#13 Grand Valley State needed just 70 minutes to dispatch of Michigan Tech inside the Fieldhouse Arena on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 25), as the Lakers swept the visiting Huskies, 25-23, 25-13, and 25-17. The victory kept the Lakers perfect in GLIAC play and extended a tremendous conference winning streak.
With Saturday's 3-0 defeat of MTU, Grand Valley State is now 17-3 on the season and an unblemished 13-0 in conference play. The Lakers continue their league dominance, as GVSU has won its last 26 regular season GLIAC matches, which is the second-longest streak in school history. Only the 43-match streak from 1973 to 1977 topped the current team's stretch.Â
For the second straight match - including a 3-0 win over second place Northern Michigan on Friday night - the Lakers attacked very efficiently, while reducing their error totals. On Friday against NMU, Grand Valley State recorded 31 kills and 10 errors for a .269 attack percentage. Saturday against Michigan Tech saw GVSU notch 43 kills and only nine miscues for a .281 offensive mark. The Lakers also held MTU (9-13 overall, 6-7 GLIAC) to a .094 hitting percentage after forcing Northern Michigan to a -.052 clip last night.
All that being said, the first set was very close throughout the contest. GVSU owned an early 7-3 cushion thanks to three kills and an ace from junior
Betsy Ronda, but Michigan Tech would pull even at 11-11. The teams were tied 12 times throughout the set, including for the last time at 22-22. Ronda put down consecutive kills and after a Laker error, senior
Ally Simmons finished the frame at 25-23 with a kill of her own.Â
The Lakers were tremendous offensively in the second set. GVSU used a .467 hitting percentage (14 kills, zero errors) to take complete control of the set and match. After back-to-back Ronda kills, senior
Kaitlyn Wolters served up three aces in a four-point span to up the Laker lead to 11-3. Kills from Ronda, sophomore
Carley Gross, freshman
Sydney Doby, and junior
Kaleigh Lound pushed the advantage to 15-7. Sophomore
Josie Werner tallied a solo rejection and a kill late in the set and classmate
Audrey Oake closed the set with a kill from senior
Clair Ruhenkamp.
GVSU scored the opening three points of the third set and although Michigan Tech would stay close at 8-7, the Huskies could never even the score. The Lakers received four kills in a six-point stretch from senior
Abby Aiken to begin to pull away midway through the set. Simmons, Aiken, and Doby each added late kills to finish off the Huskies.
Ronda led the way with a match-best 11 kills, while adding eight digs. Both Simmons (.667 hitting percentage) and Lound (.316) notched six kills without an error, while Gross delivered five kills and five digs. Aiken's 16 digs tied for match-high honors, while
Kourtney Wolters picked up 11 digs, and
Christina Canepa added 10 to her career total.
Kaitlyn Wolters handed out 26 assists and served up four of GVSU's five aces.
Aiken also supplied five kills, giving her 1,194 career kills during her four-year career. She moves into 10th place on the GVSU all-time list, passing Melanie Hodges, who totaled 1,192 putaways from 1995-98.
Grand Valley State gets a chance to extend its conference winning streak on Tuesday night (Oct. 28). The Lakers travel to West Michigan rival Ferris State for a 7:00 p.m. battle with the Bulldogs. On Sept. 23, GVSU won the final three sets to defeat Ferris State by a 3-1 count.Â
Tuesday's match will pit Grand Valley State (13-0 GLIAC) against FSU (12-1), as the teams are ranked first and second in the league, respectively.
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